Honda Civic Type R smashes five lap records in Europe - with videos

The Honda Civic Type R has set new front-wheel drive car lap records at five European racing circuits, just weeks after the model’s Nürburgring crown was stolen by the new Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S.

Honda has released five on board videos of the record breaking attempts, all of which are listed below.

Silverstone

British BTCC driver Matt Neal piloted the Type R around the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in 2 minutes 31.85 seconds in dry conditions on 26 April.

Spa

Two weeks later, World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) driver Rob Huff got behind the wheel of the Type R to take on the infamous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He managed a time of 2 minutes 56.91 seconds; about a minute and a half slower than Formula 1 pace, but the fastest time set by a front-wheel drive car there.

Monza

In the wake of Spa, the Type R headed to another historic Formula 1 circuit: the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, in Italy. Here, the Type R demonstrated high speed composure to achieve a lap time of 2 minutes 15.16 seconds, with Hungarian WTCC driver Norbert Michelisz at the wheel.

Estoril

Portugal was next for the Type R, a, as it tackled the Autódromo do Estoril circuit. Here at his home circuit, Bruno Correia, safety car driver in the WTCC, was next to guide the Type R to another lap record, achieving a time of 2 minutes 4.08 seconds.

Hungaroring

The final destination on Honda’s lap record breaking tour was Hungary’s F1 Hungaroring Grand Prix circuit. With the Type R’s aggressive chassis setup, Norbert Michelisz returned in order to trim the Hungaroring’s front-wheel drive car lap record down to 2 minutes 10.85 seconds.

Lee Stern